Furniture spacer



FURNITURE SPACER Filed Nov. 19, 1948 IN VEN TOR. 20 ROBERT F. SHARROW ATTORNEYS Patented Feb. 28, 1 950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FURNITURE SPACER Robert F. Sharrow, Fort Wayne, Ind.

Application November 19, 1948, Serial No. 61,066

Claims. 1

This invention relates to furniture spacers of the of a readily adjustable unitary furniture spacer which is inconspicuous in size and low in cost.

In recent years it has become quite popular to use water paints in redecorating the walls of rooms. Some of these paints have a tendency to rub off if an object is pushed against or along the surface with any amount of force and, therefore, it is desirable to have a furniture spacer which will prevent the furniture from marring the wall, as well as keeping the furniture out of contact with the wall to prevent any water type paint from rubbing off on the upholstery of the furniture.

In connection with this problem it is particularly advantageous if the furniture spacer employed is readily adjustable as to its overall length so that it may be used with various pieces of furnitur such as chairs, sofas, tables, or the like, to space them from the wall and compensate for the different amounts of overhang on the various pieces of furniture. The function of such a spacer will be two-fold in that it serves both as a wall guard and as a furniture spacer. In connection with the latter, when draperies, curtains, or the like are hung on the wall behind a piece of furniture, the spacer provides the definite space needed to separate the piece of furniture from the wall so to prevent the draperies, etc, from being crushed.

While the problem of protecting a wall by spacing a piece of furniture from it has been recognized for a number of years, no means has been developed which combines the desirable features of adjustability, inconspicuousness and low cost.

In carrying out the present invention in one form thereof, the furniture spacer has been constructed from a rod-like member of small cross section which is formed into a zigzag configuration comprising a number of integral sections forming a series of sharp angles from side to side. Accordingly, the cost of manufacture is limited to the initial cost of the rod stock plus the cost of the forming operation. Thus, the additional cost of assembly, which normally is incident to the manufacture of adjustable type furniture spacers comprising more than one member, has been eliminated.

For a more detailed disclosure of the invention and for further objects and advantages thereof, reference is to be had to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 shows a perspective view with the furniture spacer in a typical application of spacing a piece of furniture from the wall. Part of the wall has been cut away for clarity of illustration of the function of the spacer;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of one embodiment of a furniture spacer;

Fig. 3 is a left hand side View of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of another modification of a furniture spacer; and

Fig. 5 is a right hand side view of Fig. 4.

Fig. 1 shows the general application of the furniture spacers l0, l0 and 20 in spacing a piece of furniture from the wall. Three furniture spacers I0, [0 and 20 have been shown as spacing the respective legs 3i, 32, 33 of the chair 3!) fromthe walls 40. As will be noted, and later more fully described, the spacers are integral members which may rest upon the floor and need not necessarily be attached to the furniture legs or walls. The chair has been located in a corner position for the purpose of showing that the spacers may be used on the sides of the chair as well as at the back. Such corner locations are quite common today, especially with the use of the modern sectional type furniture where a typical plan is to place a table in a corner of the room with a sectional chair on each of the exposed sides.

Figs. 1-3 show the preferred embodiment of the invention wherein the furniture spacer i5 is an integral member comprising an end section II, intermediate sections l2, I3 and is and another end section l5. The end section II is a straight portion designed to be placed against the baseboard 4| of a wall 4!! and, with sections I2 and I3, which may be straight as shown or curved, forms a zigzag configuration which is joined to end section l5 by an intermediate section M. The definition of the term zigzag as used herein refers to having a series of short alternating turns or angles from side to side. The end section [5 has a curved portion [5a near its mid-point which is adapted to accommodate the leg 3| or 32 of a chair (Fig. 1) or other piece of furniture which is to be placed against it. End section I5 is at approximately right angles to section l4 and remains in that position during all adjustments for overall length I! of the spacer. Section l4 joins section l3 at an angle A which is an obtuse angle and which remains at a magnitude greater than for all adjustments. Sections l3 and IQ of the spacer form an angle B which may be either an acute or an obtuse angle, depending upon the adjustment of the spacer. Section [2 and end portion ll form an acute angle C, and this angle remains less than 90 throughout the adjustment of the spacer. It is to be noted that it would be possible to increase angles A and B to a magnitude of 180 and angle C to 90, thus having sections [2, l3 and Hi all in line with each other. While this would allow for a maximum spacing length, it is not intended as the customary application of the spacer. The intended application is as described above.

In order to adapt the spacer If! to different types of furniture and thus make it universal, the overall length I! is readily varied by adjusting the angle A, B and C so that they are either larger or smaller, depending upon whether the spacing between end sections H and I5 needs to be increased or decreased to suit the overhang of a particular piece of furniture.

It should be noted that spacer H1 is a unitary member which comprises integral sections l2, l3, Id and i5, all of which may lie in the same plane as shown in Fig. 3. The spacer l0, and also spacer 20 later to be described, may be constructed from any suitable material. such as metal strap, rod or tubing; for brevity, generically comprehended by the term rod-like. If tubing is used, the inside diameter or bore of the tubing should be relatively small so that the, outside diameter of the tubing may be correspondingly small, thus allowing the finished spacer to be as inconspicuous as possible. In one form of the invention the spacer l0 was constructed from a diameter cold rolled steel rod with sections l2, l3 and I4 being, 7", 6", 4" and 3" in length, respectively, and as preformed by thev manufacturer the angles A, B and C may be 150, 90 and 30, respectively.

This rod gave adequate strengthfor spacing the.

furniture from the wall, yet was sufficiently pliable so that the angles A, B and C could be readily adjusted by hand for varying the overall length N of the spacer I0. With the above dimensions the spacing depth could. be. varied from a. min umum of approximately 3 to a maximum of approximately 12".

Normally, the adjustment of the spacer to suit a particular piece of furniture may be made. by grasping one end section withone hand, the opposite end section with the other hand and then either pulling theend sections apart or pushing them together, depending upon what adjustment is desired. Alternatively, each of the angles may be adjusted separately by grasping the, sections of the spacer which define the corresponding angle and adjusting them in, a similar manner to that previously outlined. Adjustment of. the spacer may also be made by placing the wallengaging end section ofv the spacer on the floor, holding it in that position as by foot and either pulling or pushing upon the chair-engaging. end section, depending upon whether it is desired to increase or decrease the overall length of the spacer.

Fig. 4 shows another modification of a furniture spacer wherein the spacer 20- comprises an end section 2|, intermediate sections 22. and 23 and a second end section 24. End section 2| is a straight portion designed to be placed against the baseboard 4| of a wall40, and end section 2 has a curved portion 2411.. at its mid-section which is adapted. to accommodate the leg 33' (Fig. 1) of a piece of furniture. As shown in Fig. 5, the end section 2 3 is bentup out of the plane of the'rest of the sections of spacer 2|l-at the corner 26. While this construction is desirable particularly with relatively large pieces of furniture and when the leg presents a flat abutting surface, it should be noted that the spacer 20 will also function satisfactorily if all of its sections are in the same plane similar to the construction of spacer If], in Fig. 3. As shown in Fig. 4, sections 2|, 22, 23 and 24 form a zigzag configuration with included angles D, E and F. Sections 22 and 23., like sections I2 and I3 of Fig. 2, may be either straight or curved. For adjusting the overall length 21 of spacer 20, the angles D, E andF may be adjusted in the same manner as described for spacer ID, as shown in Fig. 2. However, in the case of spacer 20, the angle D which is formed between sections 23 and 24 is changed during each adjustment of the overall length, whereas in Fig. 2 the angle formed by sections l4 and l5 remains approximately the same, i. e., at right angles. In the case. of spacer 20,. angles D and F are always acute angles, whereas angle, E may be either acute or obtuse depending upon what spacing is desired between end sections 2| and 24. As previously pointed outv in regard to spacer l0 and as is equally applicable to spacer 26, while it is possible to do so, it is generally not desirable to increase the magnitude of angles D, E and F to and 90 respectively, thus placing sections 22 and 23- in a straight line with each other.

The spacer 20, while it may be used with. any type of furniture, is particularly adapted for use with furniture where the overhand. is small and, therefore, the necessary overall length of. the spacer is correspondingly small.

Spacer lll, while it may be used with alltypes of furniture, is particularly adaptable to furniture Where the overhang is relatively large, since the straight section It allows for an additional amount of length which is not foundin spacer 20.

Spacers I0 and 20 may be painted to match the floor or floor covering on which they are. used. If desired, they may be coated with plastic or rubber of various colors for matching purposes, and thus also provide a certain amount of protection against scarring of either the legs of the furniture or the baseboards on the wall. They may also be covered with felt orother fabric to provide a protection against marking, thechair legs or baseboard. However, the plastic or rubber coatings would be more desirable than the fabric as dust would not adhere. tothemv so readily.

The spacer 20 may serve asa bumper for use with pieces of furniture having no overhang which would scar the wall but which have legs protruding to such an extent that they would strike the baseboard before the upper portions of the piece would strike the wall. Thiswould be particularly advantageous in applications involving painted baseboards as they would have a tendency to be more easily scarred or chipped. Thus thespacer provides mutual protection of the furniture, the-wall, the baseboard and any intervening curtains, drapes or the like.

While preferred forms of this invention have been illustrated, it is-to be understood that other modifications thereof may be made Within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An adjustable furniture spacer for spacin a piece of furniture from aiwell, comprising. aunitary member formed in a substantially zigzag configuration, one end portion of said. member adapted to bear against the surface of a base- 5 board, the other end portion of said member being shaped to engage the leg of a piece of furniture, and the overall length of said member being adjustable by increasing or decreasing the magnitude of the angles in the zigzag configuration.

2. A universal furniture spacer adapted to space a piece of furniture from a wall, comprising a metal rod formed in a substantially zigzag configuration, one end portion of said rod adapted to bear against the surface of a baseboard, the other end portion of said rod being shaped to engage the leg of a piece of furniture, and the overall length of the spacer being adjustable by increasing or decreasing the magnitudes of th angles in the zigzag configuration.

3. An adjustable wall guard and furniture spaceraclapted to space a piece of furniture from a wall, comprising a unitary tubular member formed in a substantially zigzag configuration, one end portion of said member adapted to bear against the surface of a baseboard, the other end portion of said member being shaped to engage the leg of a piece of furniture, and the overall length of said member being adjustable by increasing or decreasing the magnitudes of the angles in the zigzag configuration.

4. An adjustable wall guard and furniture spacer adapted to space a piece of furniture from a. wall, comprising a unitary rod-like member formed in a configuration having a series of short alternating turns from side to side with one end portion of said member being adapted to engage the leg of a piece of furniture, the opposite end portion of said member being adapted to bear against the surface of a baseboard, and the overall length of said member being readily adjustable by hand by varying the sizes of the angles formed by said series of short alternatin turns.

5. An adjustable wall guard and furniture spacer adapted to space a piece of furniture from a wall, comprising a, unitary rod-like member formed in a configuration having a series of sharp angles from side to side at least one of which is an obtuse angle and at least one of which is an acute angle, one end portion of said member being shaped to engage the leg of a piece of furniture, the opposite end portion being shaped to engage the surface of a baseboard, and the overall length of said member being adjustable by J hand by varying the magnitude of the angles.

6. An adjustable wall guard and furniture spacer adapted to space a piece of furniture from all length of said member being adjustable by hand by varying the magnitude of the angles.

7. An adjustable wall guard and furniture spacer for spacing a piece of furniture from a wall, comprising a unitary member having an end portion for engaging a leg of a piece of furniture, an opposite end portion for engagin the surface of a wall baseboard, an intermediate portion spaced between said end portions and formed in a zigzag configuration, said furniture engaging portion being joined to said intermediate portion by a straight section and spaced at a right angle therefrom, and the overall length of said member being adjustable by hand by varying the magmtude of the angles in the zigzag configuration.

8. An adjustable wall guard and furniturespacer for spacing a piece of furniture from a wall, comprising a unitary member having a furniture engaging end portion, a baseboard engagin end portion, and a portion formed into a zigzag configuration and a straight section joining said ends.

9. An adjustable wall guard and furniture spacer adapted to rest upon the floor and to space a piece of furniture from a wall, comprising an integral member having a furniture engaging end portion, a baseboard engaging end portion, and an intermediate portion formed in a zigza configuration the angles of which are adjustable by hand for varying the distance between said end portions.

10. An adjustable wall guard and furniture spacer adapted to rest upon the floor and to space a, piece of furniture from a wall, comprising a unitary rod-like member formed in a substantially zigzag configuration, one end portion of said member being substantially straight and adapted to bear against the surface of a baseboard, the other end portion of said member being curved to engage the leg of a piece of furniture, said zigzag configuration being formed of integral sections of correspondingly decreasing lengths from said baseboard engaging end portion to said leg engaging end portion, and the angles of said zigzag configuration being adjustable by hand for varying the spacing between said end portions.

ROBERT F. SHARROW.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 430,377 Condon June 17, 1890 1,440,783 Kiley Jan. 2, 1923 1,445,726 Soros Feb. 20, 1923 1,557,445 Euller Oct. 13, 1925 Certificate of Correction Patent N 0. 2,499,230 February 28, 1950 ROBERT F. SHARROW It is hereby certified that errors appear in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows:

Column 3, line 15, for angle read angles lines 44 and 45, for minumumread minimum; column 4, line 72, for well read wall;

and that the said Letters Patent should be read with these corrections therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed andsealed this 27th day of June, A. D. 1950.

THOMAS F. MURPHY,

Assistant Commissioner of Patents. 

